To Europa or Bust Pt.1
February 21st, 2042: "Launch Day" A Newswire Special Blog Archivist Log: Arose2010 Everyone's pretty nervous. I'm pretty nervous. This is mankind's first real trip out past the asteroid belt, and we all know that there really isn't any going back without paying a massive fee. That's why there are so many families on board. Just in case, at least they're out there together. No one is really saying what happens if we fail. I'm getting ahead of myself. My name is Ashley Rose, and I'm the official Archivist for the Interstellar Europa Settlement Project. Not really the best acronym, but I wasn't in charge of naming it. What I'm here to do is record the trip and send it back to Earth so, for better or for worse, the Senate has a first hand, impartial, account of what happens on this trip. I'm the only person on the Athena who isn't affiliated with some form of corporate, governmental or military entity. I'm a librarian. Archivist is just a fancy title they gave me. It came with a big paycheque, so that's ok. I even got to bring my cat. Since most people don't really read printed books all too often anymore (to their loss!), I'm going to handle the flow of information between the various communities on the ship, as well as help the Captain and bridge crew research... whatever it is they may need researched. Nobody was very clear on that during the briefing. I got the distinct feeling that, while they were polite and friendly, most of the crew feel I'm not really a necessity on the ship. That auto-logs and reports would do the same job I've been hired to do. That's ok though. At least I'm getting off Earth. We have a grand total of Eight Thousand, Seven hundred and Fifty Six people on board the Athena. The number has dropped by about eighty in the last two days as several individuals and families pulled out of the mission for various reasons. Deep space cold feet. We've got a fairly large selection from SK Mining (Including the C.E.O. and his family), a bunch from the TeraForm Inc, Milton and Crane Housing, a literal contingent of scientists, and a whole slew of support staff. I don't know why you'd uproot and go to Europa to cook or clean toilets, but I suspect everyone on this mission has their own reasons for being here. That was the final call for boarding. An hour and a half now till we're set to launch. Everyone knows their assigned quarters, and everything is ready to go. It's just the goodbyes at this point. I wonder if the numbers will drop by another few before we go when that sudden realization that we're leaving everything behind for life on a cold, dark, ice moon. Wouldn't surprise me if we see a few running for the hills. -- Twenty minutes to go. The official go-ahead from the Captain just came over the bulletin. Everyone is on board, the cargo is packed, and pre-launch checks are being done. I've never been into space before. -- Two minutes to go. I can hear the engines, way below. A deep, rattling and throbbing sound. I don't think the inertial dampeners will be turned on till the moment of ignition. Sparky was raising a fuss, and now he's hiding under my bed. Poor thing. He doesn't really understand why we had to leave our nice comfy home and pack off to a big ship. Gotta strap in now. I guess it's time. Off we go. END LOG #1 March 27th, 2042: "Mars" A Newswire Special Blog Archivist Log: Arose2010 A month later and we're at Mars. In three weeks we're going to be passing by the outer mining camps in the asteroid belt, and then that's it. Just our little ship and a lot of empty space. I'm happy to report that everything on board is going well. While it isn't really a surprise that four "camps" have appeared among the adults, the children all intermix at school and seem to get along well. I've had time to explore most of the ship now, and since today it's pretty light communication wise, we may as well take a look around. The rear part of the ship is the shuttle area, Engineering and Cargo Bays. SK Mining, MC Housing, TeraForm and Maintenance each have their own bays, full of supplies for when we arrive. This is also where all the maintenance workers are staying, in small quarters spread around this area of the ship. None of them have a view. I spent some time talking with Rafael Montegeno, their de facto "leader." He assured me they were all perfectly happy and their living situation was fine. They didn't have a whole to do during the trip, so most of the staff were spending the time reading or playing cards. He also told me that much of their pay was being forwarded back to their remaining families on Earth, and it would pay for the education of hundreds of young men and women. In addition, many of the children who came along on this trip will have access to health care and education that they wouldn't have had back on Earth. I felt better after that. The left side of the ship is a split between TeraForm, MC Housing and the medical areas. Doctor Maxwell seems nice enough, and showed me around one day. He likes to request romance novels. I've never asked why. The right side of the ship is all SK Mining. As they are the principal industry for when we land on Europa, they have the largest crew, and the most cargo space. They keep to themselves. Most of them are very rough and tumble mining staff. Not that I'm worried, but I've kept my distance anyway. I've yet to meet Mr. Kudras, the C.E.O. of SK Mining, but he sends a lot of private communications to the Captain and Chief Engineer Watts. The Engineers are a bit of an odd bunch. They're just here for the trip, once we get setup they'll be using the long distance shuttles to head back to Earth. They also keep to themselves as I think they're worried about getting "attached." Everyone has their own reasons for wanting to get away from Earth. Some of the miners look like the kind who I'd say were running from the law, but I'm sure the Senate wouldn't have approved them to come along if that was the case. There's this one guy. He's got tattoos. Everywhere. It's weird. I think I'll call him... um... Tatooy. Ugh, that's awful. I swear, this ship is going to rot my brain. Finally, the front of the ship is all Global Senate staff. They are the officers and crew of the ship, and today was my first time up to the bridge. While I have a station, it isn't necessary that I go there. All of my communication handling I've been able to do from my cabin. But, the Captain invited me, so off I go. Oh and there's also of course about two hundred scientists up front with the crew, mostly marine biologists, who will be studying whatever life we find out there. They keep mostly to themselves as apparently they have a metric ton of work to do while in transit. Sparky isn't adjusting to space life all that well. He's thrown up every day so far. Gross. I met with Captain Singh in her cabin off the bridge. She asked me about how the various groups were getting along, and what the information flow was like. Pretty standard stuff. She didn't seem all that interested by the fact SK Mining talked to TeraForm, and TeraForm talked to MC Housing, but MC Housing didn't talk to SK Mining. I guess miners and builders don't get along. I raised some of my concerns about the maintenance staff and their lack of being able to see the outside. We're in space. You should be able to see the outside, and they don't have access to any of the private viewing lounges. She agreed that was a problem and would see about finding somewhere the support staff could go to see outside. Maybe once the cargo bay full of stuff for Mars is empty. I guess it's not really all that important, but I know how I'd feel if I couldn't see the stars. --- I'm back in my cabin now after a few hours up on the bridge. We dropped off a bunch of supplies at Mars, and the shuttle is heading back to the planet. They are going to set up a tennis court in the cargo bay, and use atmospheric shielding so they can open the doors. We've been told there was a big prison break at the Voltaire Extreme Security Prison base. Gives me the shivers just to think about it. God. Sparky. Are you space sick or something? That's just disgusting. END LOG #2 Category:SK Mining Category:Athena Category:TeraForm, Inc. Category:Milton and Crane Housing Category:Europa Category:March 27, 2042